PROVO, Utah – No. 18 BYU baseball fell 7-6 in 13 innings Utah on Tuesday in the Deseret First Duel at Larry H. Miller Field.

"I'm pretty proud of our team and proud of our pitchers," BYU head coach Mike Littlewood said. "It was a war of attrition tonight. Credit Utah for making pitches and getting key hits when they needed them."

Despite the loss, the Cougars (29-15) claimed the baseball portion of the Deseret First Duel by run differential, as BYU beat the Utes 11-6 back on March 28. Game two of the three-game series was canceled due to rain on April 18. Utah improved to 21-21.

Utah’s Chandler Anderson hit a two-run homer to open the scoring in the second inning. BYU came back with one run in the bottom of the frame, as Colton Shaver’s double to right-center scored Keaton Kringlen, who had singled. The Cougars trailed 2-1 after one inning.

Brennon Anderson’s third-inning two-run moonshot landed beyond the centerfield fence and gave BYU a 3-2 lead. David Clawson, who cracked a single through the right side, scored from first.

The Utes tacked on three more in the fourth off five hits. Bo Burrup came in with two outs to replace BYU starter Jordan Wood, whose evening ended with five earned runs on seven hits.

A solo smash by Brock Hale led off the bottom of the fourth inning. His shot to left field went out of the stadium premises and bounced on Campus Drive and across to the Marriott Center parking lot. That brought the Cougars’ deficit to 5-4 through four innings.

Kringlen lined a bases-loaded single to left field in the fifth as BYU regained the lead, 6-5. Brennon Anderson and Daniel Schneemann, who both walked, scored on the hit.

Keaton Cenatiempo and Aaron Cross shared pitching duties in the seventh inning for the Cougars and plunked three Utah batters en route to allowing the Utes to tie the game at 6-6.

After Cross allowed a single in the eighth, Mason Marshall was brought on for BYU. He induced three-straight grounders to get the Cougar defense out of the inning. Marshall got two outs and put a pair of Utes on in the top of the ninth before Riley Gates came in and fanned Josh Rose.

Both teams put goose eggs on the board from the eighth to the 12th inning. After 1.2 innings, Gates was relieved by Kendall Motes, who shut down Utah for two innings. In his third inning of work, the 13th, the Utes pushed a run across on a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded.

Anderson singled for the Cougars with two outs in the bottom of the frame but was stranded at first.

BYU hosts Portland this weekend beginning on Thursday at 6 p.m. MDT.

Securing the Deseret Duel Trophy and a spot in the West Coast Conference Tournament are two achievable goals for No. 18 BYU baseball this week.

On Tuesday at 6 p.m., the Cougars (29-14) host Utah (21-20) in a game televised live by KBYU-TV locally. If BYU wins that game it wins the Deseret Duel Trophy’s baseball portion for the ninth time in 10 years. Should Utah win, the Duel could be determined by run differential because BYU won 11-6 at Utah in March and last month’s game was canceled due to rain in Salt Lake City.

On Thursday at 6 p.m., BYU hosts Portland (9-34 overall and 5-16 in WCC) to begin a three-game series. The Cougars remain in first place with a 17-4 league record and have senior day on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Five seniors will be honored prior to Saturday’s game: Keaton Cenatiempo, Tanner Chauncey, Brady Corless, Bronson Larsen and Mason Marshall. Chauncey remains as the toughest to strike out in the nation for the second week in a row.

A single BYU wins against Portland would solidify one of four spots in the WCC Tournament later this month. The Cougars moved up in the national rankings from No. 22 to No. 18 by Collegiate Baseball magazine.

Jordan Wood (4-0, 5.06) gets the start against Utah, Maverik Buffo (6-5, 4.67) starts the opening game against Portland, Corless  (5-0, 5.05) is scheduled to start Friday’s game against the Pilots at 6 p.m. and Hayden Rogers (6-1, 3.39) will start in Saturday’s finale.

Following this week’s games, BYU hosts Utah Valley next Tuesday in the final game of the home season prior to closing the regular season at Gonzaga next weekend.

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